by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda

The Lord says, “If you take the initiative to concoct your own path, then you are liable to receive instructions from sources that will prove to be ineffective in the long run, for I am immanent in the universe and there is no possibility of avoiding Me. I am the source of all existence, I am full of knowledge, and I am endowed with the infinity of bliss.”...

by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda

If one has no desire at all to serve śrī guru and Śrī Kṛṣṇa, then where is the question of that desire increasing any further? If our consciousness (citta-vṛtti) remains absorbed in the lotus feet of śrī guru, then no matter where we live, our impulse to serve will swell. Otherwise, the inclination to gratify our senses and the urge to enter into mundane life will be all that swells in us....

by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Learned sages have described the meaning of auspiciousness as love for the entire creation, caring affection for all living entities, saintly character, happiness, and other such qualities. The person in whom bhakti has arisen gives affection to the whole world and becomes the object of attachment for everyone in the world. He effortlessly becomes the recipient of all saintly qualities and attains all types of pure happiness and auspiciousness....

by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda

That enjoying mood is but bait and a trap and will not lead us to the Absolute. Determining the true self will lead us there. We should first realize this: we are in need of receiving the divine boon, our own boon, of the self. As we are now in the human frame, we have the opportunity to know the fact of transcendence....

by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda

Therefore, I say, those who wish to attain the lotus feet of Bhagavān, who want true peace and who want deliverance from material existence, will make serving śrī guru their life and soul, they will ceaselessly engage in that service and they will endeavour to please him even at the cost of their own life....

by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda

It is the enlightening potency of words which alone is able to destroy all those obstacles. Therefore, only when the deluding potency of words born of the ephemeral nature is resolved into the enlightening function do words prevent the individual soul from becoming severed from non-dual knowledge (advaya-jñāna), that is, from the Supreme True Entity....

by Srila Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Since life in this world is temporary, it is not proper to spend any part of one’s life meaninglessly. It is imperative for the jiva to remain continuously engaged in hari-bhajana at every moment....

by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda

In reality, it is impossible to serve effectively unless one is directly cognizant of the emotions deep within the heart of the person being served. Sometimes, the topmost servants may wait for the orders of their master, but other times, aware of the inner feelings of their worshipful lord, they may serve him without being ordered....

by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda

We are now interested in the acquisition of all kinds of worldly facilities. We find it useful to study those sciences that deal with the objects we wish to acquire. But we need not remain confined to such investigation. We are fit to be attracted, also, by the science of supra-mundane reality. We are attracted by One who is existence, knowledge and bliss. He attracts us in different degrees, for He has given us the fitness to be attracted in different measures....

By Sri Srimad Bhakti Dayita Madhava Gosvami Maharaja

Spiritually-inclined people saw that I was becoming indifferent to material affairs and that I was engaged in the cultivation of spiritual practices. They started to honour me, considering me a sadhu (saint), and thus I became respected. I had resolved to one-pointedly cultivate spiritual life by submitting myself for rectification as a disciple. Unfortunately, however, I once again started to hanker for the luxuries of this body and for worldly prestige, impelled by my previous bad samskaras (impressions)....

by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda

No matter how many difficulties we must face, we pray that we may always be able to follow in the footsteps of the devotees of Bhagavān. When we realize our own ineptitude, humility (dainya) arises. That humility is the root of accepting guidance from Bhagavān’s devotees. Only when I truly admit my own incompetence shall I become capable of perceiving the beauty and the glories of the lotus feet of Bhagavān’s devotees....

By Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja

Then, in recent times, from the same stage in Śrīdhāma Māyāpura, our Paramagurudeva, paramahaṁsa parivrājakācārya oṁ viṣṇupāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja, preached the message of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam throughout the entire world, demonstrating the perfect ideal of śrī vyāsa-pūjā....